Francis is far too busy helping candidate Angelo Maragos get elected today to post this stuff, so we’ll be updating these as we go along.  First one above the fold: if we’re blessed with a fair, clean election presence from the WFP/ACORN/Democrats, this will be the only one.  if not, updates will be under them.

Yes, expect to check back often.

6:26 AM: One of my [again, this is Francis writing - ML] campaign workers just went to vote. Sure enough: “Republican? Sorry sir, the voting machine is broken. You’ll have to fill out an affidavit ballot.” EXCEPT that affidavits are for people who assert their eligibility rather than having it proved by the presence of a signature in the registration book. He has to fill out an EMERGENCY ballot, not an affidavit. We dashed a person over there, chewed them out viciously, and they fixed the machine. We also howled at the opposition’s campaign manager who was brazenly doing some illegal electioneering. And we reamed out the cop whose job it is to prevent electioneering for being late to arrive.

It’s going to be a very long day.

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I think of the RedState community as my extended family, and I’m grateful to all of you for reading my past missives on markets and finance. I’ve been all but absent from the front page for months now, and I owe you an explanation.

First, my businesses have been performing very well this year, and being a CEO is time-consuming. Second, and more interesting to most of you, is that I’ve bitten the poisoned apple of electoral politics.

My wife, Paula Hostetter, was engaged as the campaign manager to Angelo Maragos, a young businessman who embarked on the seemingly quixotic task of running as a Republican for New York City Council. I got sucked in because a political campaign needs management-type people who can build a strong team quickly, and there I was.

I’m tremendously proud of Paula, who has run a tough, disciplined campaign against the longest possible odds (more on that in a moment). We definitely broke through the clutter to reach our voters. We ran a multi-dimensional campaign that was long on organization and strategy. I can tell you that the last few years of hanging around the assorted political junkies and professionals that comprise RedState’s contributor roster, gave us insights that paid off big-time.

I’d like to say that tomorrow the voters of western Queens will decide whether we made the sale. That’s where the picture gets complicated.

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[FURTHER UPDATE] Welcome, AoSHQ readers.  Note the petition below.

[UPDATE]: Thanks to Randy Mastro and our own Francis Cianfrocca - who will have a lot more to say about these races - here’s the petition cataloging said skulduggery; and you will not find it dull reading. (If you’re having trouble reading it, try here.)

It’s not that our opponents are geniuses at skulduggery.  It’s that they’re unaccustomed to being challenged on it.  When they do, they make mistakes:

A City Council hopeful won’t cough up documents related to whether the Working Families Party is scamming the campaign finance system — because the case could involve “criminal liability,” according to documents released yesterday.

The bombshell development was revealed at a court hearing where lawyers for the WFP and the campaign of Staten Island candidate Debi Rose tried to get a suit against them tossed.

Former Giuliani administration Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, the lawyer opposing the Rose campaign, called it an “extraordinary development.”

The suit itself - I’m working to get a copy of it sent to me - alleges that WFP (which is, of course, a front for ACORN) is violating campaign finance laws by having WFP front group Data and Field Services provide “canvassing and other services for [City Council candidate Debi] Rose in her primary campaign against [current Conservative candidate* Ken] Mitchell for which the firm received far less than the market value.”  In that context, trying to avoid financial disclosure on the grounds of possible self-incrimination is at the very least eyebrow-raising; which is why they tried to walk back on it before 24 hours had passed. It should also be noted that the Rose race in Staten Island is not the only one where this sort of thing went on; Queens City Council candidate James Van Bramer is likewise heavily involved with WFP/Data & Field Services, as this diary from the Daily Kos (of all places) makes clear.  I’m sure that his campaign is watching this case unfold with great interest.

The moral here?  Well, aside from the obvious one of “ACORN taints everything that it touches,” it’s this: one-party rule makes people stupid.  And stupid people make mistakes.  Keep that in mind the next time you’re trying to decide whether or not to fight City Hall.

Moe Lane

*Who is actually a Democrat.  Welcome to New York fusion politics.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

(Via Atlas Shrugs) For the next time somebody tells you that Democrat/ACORN/WFP election registration fraud does not equal election fraud, feel free to point this story coming from Troy, New York, where the one led seamlessly to the other.  Feel free to also point out that it doesn’t take all that much to flip some races:

Thirty-eight forged or fraudulent ballots have been thrown out — enough votes, an election official admits, to likely have tipped the city council and county elections in November to the Democrats. Candidates would have been able to run both on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines in two weeks, and that could have given the Democrats the general election.

A special prosecutor is investigating the case and criminal charges are possible. New York State Supreme Court Judge Michael Lynch ruled that there were “significant election law violations that have compromised the rights of numerous voters and the integrity of the election process.”

[Bolding mine.]

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Matthew Vadum had precisely the same reaction that I did when I read the Ben Smith Politico article that published ACORN founder Wade Rathke’s denial that White House Director Political Director Patrick Gaspard was affiliated with his group: Umm.  No.  It’s not Ben’s fault - this is all deliberately designed to be confusing - but there are a clear set of links.  It goes like this:

First, ACORN has long been known to have The Working Families Party as one of its front organizations.  As Discover the Networks notes:

Currently composed of some 30,000 members, the Working Families Party (WFP) is a front group for ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). WFP functions as a political party in New York State and Connecticut, promoting ACORN-friendly candidates. Unlike conventional political parties, WFP charges its members dues — about $60 per year — a policy characteristic of ACORN and its affiliates.

According to the party’s website, WFP is a coalition founded jointly by ACORN, the Communications Workers of America, and the United Automobile Workers. However, ACORN clearly dominates the coalition. New York ACORN leader Steven Kest was the moving force in forming the party, and WFP headquarters are located at the same address as ACORN’s national office, at 88 Third Avenue in Brooklyn, New York.

Second, as Matthew Vedum reported, the link between Gaspard and the WFP is clear: he himself identified with the political party.

Third, as I mentioned earlier today, Gaspard is continuing to assist the WFP in local elections.

The Working Families Party and its secretive private company are apparently not alone in helping out Bill de Blasio’s campaign behind the scenes.

De Blasio, who is a candidate in the four-way Democratic primary for public advocate, has also has been getting a helping hand from Patrick Gaspard, the White House political director, and from the deputy director of the New York State Democratic Committee.

So. ACORN = WFP = Patrick Gaspard. Wade Rathke’s sudden performance to the contrary.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.